handcrafted

And here it is, the final installment of my Christmas Gift Guide featuring the wonders and delights of beautiful handmade and handcrafted Irish Etsy Stores. I have really enjoyed pulling together these three lists for you and I hope you have found something new, something unique and something beautiful that you haven’t been able to find elsewhere. The best thing about Etsy stores is that you know the items have been made with thought, with care and with love. It’s like going to a Christmas Craft Fair without having to drudge around with the crowds 🙂 Take a peek inside and see what delights I have found for you.

We are on to week two of my Christmas Gift Guide, meaning its just one month to Christmas. November really does disappear and the holiday season has a habit of creeping up on us. I have been prepping the house for the day when the Christmas tree (trees – we have two!) comes down from the attic. Of course, when I say prepping, I mean ordering B around since I can’t do any of the heavy lifting that I usually too due to still being on bed rest. The lugging around of the furniture and cleaning under every surface and in every nook and cranny has been left to my amazing husband who this year has cribbed about my obsessiveness with Christmas. I like to have our decorations up for The Late Late Toy Show at the end of November, which I know is ridiculously early for most people but it’s a tradition I love. Besides, I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love Christmas 🙂 And just because I’m pregnant and on bed rest doesn’t mean the decorations will appear any later. So on to the Gift Guide!

Anyone who knows me will know how much I love candles. I always have, ever since I started meditating as a teenager and my parents trusted me with matches and a few tealights in my bedroom! When B and I bought our first apartment together in 2005, the obsession really took over and I gathered candle after candle. In fact, last week, I panicked when I realised I only had five tealights left for my Himalayan Salt Oil Burner. I use all of my candles. They are made to be burnt and provide that beautiful, warm, comforting atmosphere that I love in my home. On my search to introduce you to dedicated and talented handmade crafters, I came across Bantry Candles. Bantry Candles are, in my opinion, one of the most well made and alluring handmade candle makers in Ireland. I had the pleasure of sampling one of their creations from the Christmas range which I wholeheartedly recommend to you.

You may remember that B and I have a certain style when it comes to our bits and bobs that are mingled around our house. We’re collectors and over our twelve years of living together we’ve managed to gather some cute and quirky bits that simply say “us”. Annnnndd then along comes the offspring and I don’t mean the band. A is probably the best thing we’ve picked up over the years and is the best addition to our house! She’s also the most expensive item we own (I know we don’t own her. Don’t worry about pointing out how completely politically incorrect it is to say that). In the last few years, with a beautiful new mouth to feed, moving house and paying bill after bill, we’ve had little chance to add to our collection. I miss shopping for quirks and oddities. I miss picking up an awesome find in a random shop in some back street of Dublin. I lost the shopping gene when A came along and resorted to spending my time and money in Boots on soothers and beaker after beaker after beaker. Until last week. Oh last week I was a happy giddy Momma Bear. Enter Kopper Kreation!